Traversal Residency: Mother Cyborg

Senses of Security with Mother Cyborg

December 02 – 17, 2022

Reception: Friday, December 16, 5-7PM

Presented as part of Traversal Residency Series co-presented in partnership with the Public Visualization Lab and Trinity Square Video; funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.

Senses of Security examines the betrayal of the promise of technology in the Internet age. This body of work aims to return a sense of wonder and magic to all of us, and rekindle the awe we may have first felt when using a geolocating star map, or being able to video call a person behind apartide borders. Until we believe that we can nurture, artfully shape and invoke the future of technology, we will likely remain passively controlled by the corporations that profit from our indifference. 

Sense of Security looks at the way in which art can draw new perspective of living at the whim of fickle invisible wifi connections, engaging “power cycling” (turning on and off) computers and phones to “fix” them, modern experiences of technology run the gamut from resigned faith to proselytizing zealotry. In our weariness, we fail to notice that the “same” data, taken from all of us, has the power to rewrite and mutate the prior century’s worst inequalities into a blueprint for the future. The exhibition includes mechanical candle holders that are magically powered through the heat of the flame, psychedelic quilts that mesmerize while unpacking surveillance in society, and media that bring into focus the information and questions we should be asking of the future.